Bill Simmons Removes Joke About Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's Interview From His Draft Diary After Learning MKG Has A Stuttering Problem

Bill Simmons’ always entertaining draft diary, now measured in roman numerals, went up this morning at Grantland. The approximately 4,700 word behemoth had jokes and running commentary of the draft in typical Simmons fashion, from a player’s WAG’s draft (Bradley Beal was the first pick) to cracking an Austin Rivers facial hair joke. Soon after it went up, a portion of those words were removed.

After the piece was published, some folks complained because Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has a speech impediment and publicly speaking in front of a group of people is a challenge for him. That portion above was removed from the piece without commentary, and without noting any of that.

A big part of Bill Simmons’ appeal is his “every fan” charm and the persona that he is “just one of the guys.” You could easily see that exchange happening. The reason the draft diary is such a notable Simmons staple is the banter with his friends of which “House” is one.

The issue is whether a change as large as a big swath of the piece that features multiple lines should just be removed after the fact, without any reference or editor’s note about the content that was removed. It won’t fully disappear on the internet. One of the great things about the internet, and writing on the internet is the speed at which information can be exchanged. Non-substantive corrections can be made quickly; no need for the magazine to be delivered a week later and see a typo in print. I’ve made changes when my commenters/readers have notified me, maybe it’s an incomplete sentence, or an extra letter in a name. Once, I accidentally hit a key stroke as I was publishing and removed a title of a post, so yeah.

The standard for that also depends on the venture. Grantland has eight people with editor listed in the title and publishes on a regular basis. It serves a large readership. They probably required a note from an editor if they were going to make a change as large as that.

The question is not whether it should be changed–it’s probably appropriate to remove the offending section even if Simmons was unaware of the speech impediment. The exchange itself was in line with the kind of banter we see from a Simmons’ draft column. The reference to Kidd-Gilchrist was unfortunate, but so long as not intentional, understandable. The question is whether that change is substantive enough that it merits being mentioned in the piece when it is removed. It probably did. Now, people going to Grantland who may not have realized that Kidd-Gilchrist had a speech impediment will still be unaware.

[UPDATE: In between the time that I originally read the edited piece this morning and this post ran, Grantland has added a footnote which acknowledges the edit and apologizes to MKG. As a result, I’m editing to acknowledge the change. I think inserting that footnote is a completely reasonable way of handling it].

After the piece was published, some folks complained because Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has a speech impediment and publicly speaking in front of a group of people is a challenge for him. That portion above was removed from the piece without commentary, and without noting any of that.

Actually, the new version of the column has a footnote from Simmons apologizing for the mistake.

http://twitter.com/ButtersBC ButtersBC

Takes me back to when Jim Rome (and myself along with half of Twitter) didn’t realize Dan Gilbert’s kid was differently abled before cracking wise during that Draft Lottery

Ben80123

Now, people going to Grantland who may not have realized that Kidd-Gilchrist had a speech impediment will still be unaware.

He mentions it in the notes that run along side the column.

Update: When we first posted this column, I included the exchange of MKG’s interview with Mark Jones because MKG was so overcome with emotion that he could barely speak — as it turns out, MKG has a speech impediment (I had no idea) so we pulled that part as soon as we found out. Normally we don’t edit columns after they go up, but in this case, it was the right thing to do and that’s that. Sorry about that, MKG.

http://twitter.com/HawkEye_19 HawkEye

Lisk wrote this? Really?

Seems J-Mac would have more experience in deleting things he is ashamed of

AzCatLV

And the footnote was added at least an hour ago…

https://twitter.com/#!/aboveavgbeard The Beard is strong with this one

Yeah, as Ben points out, they clearly own up to it in the article that is posted as of right now.

A.P.

Stuttering johntroversy

/nods at vez

Jason Lisk

Actually, the new version of the column has a footnote from Simmons apologizing for the mistake.

Then that happened just recently. I started on this over an hour ago and I’ll note that.

Seems J-Mac would have more experience in deleting things he is ashamed of

That’s why he couldn’t attach his name to this one – too many pot/kettle jokes would be made.*

*Footnote – For those that don’t understand – the editor-in-chief of the site, Jason McIntyre, from time to time has edited content without explanation or use of only a strikethrough.

https://twitter.com/#!/derkaiser10 Der Kaiser

What in the hell? Some people with stick up their ass is slamming Simmons on twitter. You’ve got to be kidding me. Must be nice, going thru life without ever making any mistakes.

https://twitter.com/#!/NYBredCincyRed Shatner, Dead? Shatner IS Dead.

I’m just surprised he never heard about this before.

PLus UK fans need to calm the fuck down and stop acting like the entire world is out to get them. Never seen such a boisterous yet neurotic fan base.

ImJustSayin

I am a UK fan, huge fan of MKG and was aware he has a speech impediment. All that being said I laughed out loud at the MKG section this morning when I read. It was funny. That’s what I want from my Simmons articles. I wish people didn’t always take everything so seriously.

http://womenshotgunningbeers.tumblr.com/ sousedbergin

Ladies love Rae Carruth for his gentlemanly swagger.

[UPDATE: Apparently Rae straight up tried to murder a pregnant girl apologies to all the ladies out there].